Border Law and Border Disputes — BIG Summer Institutes

Borders are not simple lines on a map— they are complex legal objects with multiple dimensions. Territorial disputes, maritime boundaries, and cross-border legal frameworks affect states and populations around the world. This course is unique for its focus on both the legal foundations and the practical skills needed to work on these challenges.

This course combines the juridical study of borders with applied dispute resolution, and border mapping experience to provide legal frameworks and hands-on tools you can use in your professional work. Through case studies and simulated dispute exercises, you will practise negotiation, argumentation, and conflict management in border contexts.

• How international boundaries - on land, at sea, and in the air - have been defined by law, both historically and today.
• The legal frameworks for resolving territorial and border disputes, including the International Court of Justice, international tribunals, and arbitration
• How to evaluate the benefits and risks of different dispute resolution options (negotiation, mediation, conciliation, adjudication)
• How to develop practical measures to reduce friction in disputed border areas
• The legal and policy dimensions of cross-border spaces and borderlands in the EU
• How border controls, entry prohibitions, and immigration inadmissibility work in practice
• How Indigenous sovereignty claims intersect with state border law in North America
• Practical negotiation and argumentation skills through simulated border dispute exercises

BIG_Lab is an international policy and research network based at the University of Victoria, Canada, dedicated to advancing border governance worldwide. Now in its 6th year, the BIG Summer Institutes have brought together 50+ expert speakers and 500+ participants from 30+ countries. Learn more at www.biglobalization.ca

"The Borders in Globalization Summer Institutes played a central role in shaping my research and professional path. The program strengthened my research and academic writing skills and helped focus my work on border-related issues."

— Paola Malaspina, Educator and Policy Researcher, Italian Cultural & Community Center, Houston, Texas

"The ability to learn from others in different regions is invaluable. We all have different strategies and challenges. This program helps bridge those gaps."

— Summer Institutes Participant, Tunisia

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

EU Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (REGIO) — Building Cour Saint-Michel 1 (CSM1), Cours Saint-Michel 23, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Belgium

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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